Ordered 1989 Commissioned 15 October 1992 Construction started 16 January 1991 Displacement 2.6 million kg Beam 14 m | Namesake Month of Nivôse Laid down 16 January 1991 Length 94 m Launched 11 August 1991 Draft 4.4 m | |
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Homeport Port des Galets, La Réunion | ||
The Nivôse is a light surveillance frigate ("frégate de surveillance") of the French Marine Nationale. She is the third ship of the Floréal class, and the fourth French vessel named after the 4th month of the Republican Calendar.
Contents
Capture of pirates by French frigate Nivose.mp4
Deployments
In October 2001, she was deployed in the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
In late 2008, under frigate captain Jean-Marc Le Quilliec, Nivôse was deployed as part of a European Union expeditionary force, Operation Atalanta, in the Gulf of Aden to fight piracy off Somalia.
On 12 April 2009, Nivôse relieved her sister-ship Floréal as part of European Union Naval Force Somalia – Operation Atalanta. On 3 May 2009, 900 km off Somalia, the crew managed to lure pirates to attack the ship by sailing into the sun to avoid being identified and mistaken for a merchantman; as the pirate closed in, she turned about and launched her on-boarded helicopter and fast outboard vessels. Eleven pirates were captured.
From 5 to 7 March 2010, joining mission forces from France, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain and Sweden, Nivôse secured its "biggest seizure" so far in the vital shipping lane, with 35 pirates arrested and four mother ships seized in three days off Somalia.